Beef goes up ahead of Eid
Staff Correspondent
The price of beef and spices has increased in the capital’s kitchen markets in the past week due to the traditional practice of making windfall profit by a section of traders ahead of Eid.
‘It has been a traditional practice of a section of hoarders who create artificial supply shortage to exploit the increased Eid demand,’ said Emdad Hossain Malek of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh.
Based on his experience in overseeing the market monitoring cell at CAB for years, Malek said that by monitoring market in the weeks ahead of Eid, the government could prevent such manipulations to a great extent.
Vegetables prices remain high while prices of rice and other commodities were found somewhat unchanged in the week.
Beef became costlier by at least Tk 20 per kilogram over the week. On Friday at Nakhalpara and Mohkhali bazaars in the city, a kilogram of beef sold for Tk 240.
‘Price of cows has increased quite a bit forcing us to revise the price,’ Munna Mia, a butcher argued.
He and some other Mohakhali butchers said that supply of cows had declined significantly in the cattle markets around the city for past two or three weeks.
’Cattle sellers may be thinking that they will get better price in Eid markets,’ Munna pointed out.
Spices became costlier in the week also due to eid demand.
Up by Tk 10 in a week and Tk 30 in a month, dry red chili per kilogram was retailed between Tk 150 and Tk 180 on Friday at different markets in the city.
Imported multi-cell garlic was retailed between Tk 80 and Tk 90 per kilogram, an increase of Tk 20 in a couple of weeks. Price of imported garlic was doubled in a couple of months or so and wholesalers blamed the ecling supply from the importers.
Bangladesh consumes around three lakh tonnes of garlic and imports from China, Indonesia and India meet more than half of the local demand.
Turmeric price was also up by Tk 20 in a week as different varieties of the yellow spice were retailed between Tk 140 and Tk 170.
Retailed between Tk 38 and Tk 48 per kilogram, onion price remained somewhat unchanged in the week. The price of other vegetables remained high as traders said supply of winter vegetables is yet to be abundant to push down the price.
On Friday at Nayatola bazaar, a pair of medium-sized cauliflowers sold for Tk 45, a bottle gourd for Tk 35. Beans sold between Tk 50 and Tk 60 per kilogram, round aubergine between Tk 28 and Tk 30 while radish sold between Tk 22 and Tk 24.
The price of rice remained unchanged in the week. The traders said wholesalers were eying arrival of new stock of Aman rice by the third week of this month. Coarse rice was retailed on Friday between Tk 22 and Tk 26 per kilogram while fine rice sold between Tk 30 and Tk 34.
G20 finance ministers to
firm up global recovery
Agence France-Presse . St Andrews
G20 finance ministers were meeting here on Friday to shore up the recovery from the global financial crisis and discuss funding for a still uncertain agreement on climate change.
The ministers from the world’s 20 most powerful and fastest emerging economies are holding the third in a series of meetings this year which led to a one-trillion-dollar fiscal stimulus package to tackle the recession.
Over two days in the picturesque Scottish coastal town of St Andrews, they are seeking to flesh out agreements made at a leaders’ summit in Pittsburgh in September.
Now that the United States, Japan, Germany and France have emerged from recession after last year’s global financial crisis, the G20’s focus has switched from disaster management to building a secure economic future.
British finance minister Alistair Darling said ahead of the meeting that ministers agreed it was too early to withdraw massive economic support packages while the global recovery remained fragile.
‘At the G20 (in Pittsburgh) we agreed that it would be a real mistake to withdraw the stimulus packages before their work was done,’ Darling said in an interview with European newspapers.
‘But at the same time, we also agreed that some measures would be withdrawn at different times. We mustn’t withdraw everything at once.’
Despite the signs of recovery, coordinated action was still required, Darling added, as Britain suffers its longest recession on record.
‘If we do not act, there is a risk that we will be confronted by a decade of weak growth and low employment,’ he said.
The rockiness in the British economy was underlined when the government said this week it was pumping in an extra 30 billion pounds (33 billion euros, 49 billion dollars) to support Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group.
RBS, which is now 84-per cent state-owned, said on Friday that despite massive aid over the past year to prevent it from collapse it made a net quarterly loss of 1.8 billion pounds and expected recovery to be slow.
The St Andrews meeting will work out details of the so-called global framework for growth agreed in Pittsburgh, designed to prevent a repetition of last year’s crisis which has cost millions of jobs worldwide.
Meanwhile, France says it wants to see genuine signs of progress on curbs on bankers’ bonuses after the leaders agreed in Pittsburgh to move towards a system of spreading them over a longer period with the possibility of clawing back the payments if they under-perform.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told BBC radio: ‘I would hope that a little bit more can be done, to actually cast in stone the fact that we want to stop excesses, stop abuses, and bonuses that are strictly risk incentives.’
Banks’ bonus policies which encouraged excessive risk taking have been blamed by many observers for fuelling last year’s instability in financial markets.
With just weeks to go before December’s UN-led conference in Copenhagen on finding a new agreement on curbing greenhouse gases, the ministers will also focus on how cash from rich countries to help developing nations tackle the issue should be delivered.
Amid signs that the prospects for a hoped-for binding deal in Copenhagen are fading, Darling urged ministers to make progress on the financial details of an agreement.
He said: ‘We either take action and stop those problems happening or we fail to take action and we face bigger costs down the line.
‘My message to my fellow finance ministers is there’s a job of work to be done here. I don’t think anyone seriously denies there’s a problem here. Let’s get on with it.’
Demonstrations are being organised to coincide with the weekend meeting.
A coalition of anti-war campaigners and student groups intend to rally in St Andrews on Saturday and a ‘people’s G20’ will be held on the beach near the hotel where the ministers are meeting.
BATEXPO ends with call
for state support
Staff Correspondent
The closing ceremony of the 20th Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition was held on Friday in the capital demanding government’s support for the industry.
Leader of opposition in the parliament, Khaleda Zia, attended the closing ceremony at Hotel Sonargaon as chief guest with the president of Bangladesh Garment manufacturers and Exporters Association, Abdus Salam Murshedy in the chair.
The BNP secretary general, Khondaker Delwar Hossain, former information minister Shamsul Islam, former commerce minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and BNP leader Barkat Ullah Bulu also spoke at the ceremony.
At total of 62 local and foreign companies are showcasing their products and services in 82 stalls in the exhibition. The exhibition, however, will continue till Saturday.
Saif slashes bidding
price to get CCT job
Bdnews24.com . Chittagong
Saif Power Tech has massively slashed their bidding price to get the contract for container management at Chittagong Container Terminal.
Saif quoted the lowest price of Tk 13.95 crore to handle 9 lakh TUS (20 feet containers are taken as 1 unit) in three years, port authorities and bidding agencies’ representatives said on Thursday after they submitted their bids.
With that rate, the said, the cost will be Tk 155 per container.
The company would receive Tk 1,200 for each container handling during the past caretaker government.
The company has been working for Tk 505 now in an understanding with Chittagong Port Authorities after that contract ran out.
CCT operator (adminitration) Muhibul Haque received the bids at his office from 9am to 2pm on Thursday.
The third tender for for the job ended on Thursday after two extensions.
Bids were accepted twice earlier after the caretaker government came to power, but those were cancelled due to various irregularities in the bidding process.
Other contractors who took part in the bid were MH Chowdhury Ltd, Fazle and Sons, Nawab and Company, GATCO, A&J Traders and Everest Enterprise.
Port sources said GATCO asked for Tk 238.64 per container that makes it Tk 21.47 crore in three years.
A&J Traders’ rate was Tk 255 per container or Tk 22.95 crore in total.
Everest Enterprise, Fazle and Sons, MH Chowdhury Ltd, and Nawab and Company quoted Tk 386, Tk 388.83, Tk 403 and Tk 733 per container respectively.
Dropping of bids began in the presence of bidding agencies’ representatives at 3pm.
‘Tender filing was completed smoothly. Seven contractors submitted tenders,’ Chittagong Port Authority chairman commodore Riaz U Ahmed told bdnews24.com after the tenders closed.
Expensive yarn holds
back silk industry
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Rajshahi
The traditional silk industry has been facing an awkward position at present due to abnormal price hike of imported silk yarn.
According to sources concerned, the running industries are incurring loss of around Taka 4,000 to 5,000 everyday while the small ones are on the dying condition.
Akter Hossain of Tanzila Silk told the news agency that the price of China silk was Taka 2,250 per kilogram during last Eid-ul-Fitr. But the current price has stood at Taka 3350.
He said the local production has been reduced to zero level and the price of imported yarn is the sky-high. Not only that, he apprehended that the price will go up further.
‘We have no alternative to shut down the industries at this adverse situation,’ Akter Hossain lamented.
He recalled that the price of locally produced yarn was Taka 1,300 per kilogram while the China-yarn was Taka 2,500 in 1988. After 1991, the market was opened and taking this advantage the businessmen and non-businessmen had started importing silk in the name of quality yarn indiscriminately.
In this regard, he mentioned that at least 1,200 tonnes of silk yarns were imported while the local demand was hardly 350 tonnes per year at that time.
He alleged that huge imported silk yarns were smuggled out to the neighbouring country. Unfortunately, many of the professional cocoon farmers started leaving their ancestral profession being deprived of getting fair price of their produced yarn.
Owner of Adhunik Silk and Central Vice-president of National Association of Small Industries in Bangladesh Liakat Ali said that there is no alternative to enhance local production to protect the sector from degradation.
He said many factories, who are involved only in producing cloth, have been forced to close their looms and he himself shut down his partial production. Besides, he apprehended that many more factories would become non-functional on finishing their
yarn stock.
Another factory owner Golam Ambiya reported that his 35 staff and labourers would become unemployed if his factory is shut down.
‘I am passing my days with deep anxiety over running my six looms in future,’ another silk industry owner Abdul Quddus said adding that the silk price of Taka 2,000 to Taka 2,200 is affordable to keep the factories operational.
He sought government intervention in this regard. Recently, he said an entrepreneur imported silk clothes due to the yarn price hike, which he terms as suicidal for the silk industry sector.
Liakat Ali opined that the sector needs an urgent initiative to retain the skilled labourers including the realer and weavers in the profession to protect the sector as a whole.
Standard Chartered signs
agreement with Ford
Business Desk
Standard Chartered Bank has recently signed an agreement with AG Automobiles Limited, distributor of Ford Automobiles in Bangladesh.
Under this agreement, Standard Chartered will provide special services to Auto Loan customers referred by AG Automobiles.
Tarek Reaz Khan, general manager and head, secured lending of Standard Chartered, and Syed Iqbal Ahmed, general manager of AG Automobiles, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
BRAC Bank opens
Ghorashal branch
Business Desk
BRAC Bank has opened a branch at Ghorashal in Narsingdi with 24-hour ATM service.
Nihad Kabir, director of BRAC bank and AEA Muhaimen, managing director and chief executive officer, formally inaugurated the branch on Thursday.
Ghorashal has been historically a place of power, gas and fertilizer. BRAC Bank is one of the very banks, however, to open a full-scale branch here. The Bank also brings 24-hour ATM service for the first time in the town.
The branch is located at 223, Hospital Road, Ghorashal.
Talukder Group signs
deal with Adcomm
Business Desk
Talukder Group of Industries, a manufacturer of PVC pipe and cast iron products, has recently signed an agreement with Adcomm Limited, a leading communication company, to promote and popularise different products of the group amongst its target consumers.
The managing director of Talukder, Samsul Arifin, and Geeteara Safiya Choudhury, chairperson and managing director of Adcomm, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
Asian markets bounce back
Agence France-Presse . Hong Kong
A rally on Wall Street helped Asian markets rebound at the end of a volatile week on Friday but many dealers remained cautious ahead of key jobs figures in the world’s biggest economy.
Hong Kong added 1.63 per cent, Tokyo 0.74 per cent and Sydney 1.91 per cent as dealers looked at upbeat data from the US to pick up bargains following a hectic week.
Shanghai rose for the sixth day in a row.
The Dow Jones index added more than two per cent on Thursday after figures showed US productivity surged in the third quarter to its highest in six years, while filings for jobless benefits fell to their lowest in 10 months last week.
US October retail sales increased 1.8 per cent.
However, eyes were also on US non-farm payroll numbers to be released later Friday, which will give an indication of the state and strength of recovery in the world’s biggest economy. Many analysts expect the data to show almost 10 per cent unemployment.
TOKYO: Up 0.74 per cent. The Nikkei-225 climbed 71.91 points to 9,789.35.
Toyota shares lost 1.7 per cent to 3,520 yen, after reporting better-than-expected earnings for the three months to September and lifting its outlook for the full fiscal year.
‘Toyota’s earnings are improving but it’s only in line with the industry-wide trend, and it’s hard to find a particular reason to buy its stock,’ said an analyst at a Japanese research institute.
NEC rose 10 per cent to 273 yen as investors took in their stride an announcement it will raise up to 134 billion yen via a new share issue that will dilute the value of existing stock.
Bank shares ended mostly lower, with Mizuho Financial down 1.1 per cent to 179 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial 0.3 per cent lower at 3,160 yen.
HONG KONG: Up 1.63 per cent. The Hang Seng Index added 350.64 points to 21,829.72.
‘Strong liquidity flows suggest a positive outlook for the Hong Kong stock market,’ Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
HSBC advanced 1.9 per cent to 86.85 Hong Kong dollars and Bank of China Hong Kong was up 3.2 per cent at 18.46.
Local developers rose after a sell-off in recent sessions on concerns the government may increase land supply. The property sub-index rose 2.0 per cent after a 1.3 per cent decline Thursday.
Sun Hung Kai Properties gained 2.5 per cent to 116.30 and Cheung Kong jumped 1.7 per cent to 97.35.
SHANGHAI: Up 0.28 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 8.98 points to 3,164.04.
The key index ended at its highest since August 11 and the index has risen 5.6 per cent for the week.
Property companies led the gains after China Vanke, the country’s largest developer by market value, said sales surged 95 per cent.
The firm rose 2.8 per cent at 12.10 yuan and Tianjin Realty Development added 6.0 per cent to 7.02.
Cement firms were also strong, partly on increased construction by property developers. Hebei Taihang Cement surged by the daily trading limit of 10 per cent to 11.19 yuan.
On the ChiNext, 25 of the 28 stocks slumped after rebounding in the two previous sessions.
Beijing Ultrapower Software Co LTD tumbled 5.4 per cent to 97.71 yuan. Anhui Anke Biotechnology (Group) Ltd shed 3.9 per cent to 44.80.
SEOUL: Up 1.30 per cent. The KOSPI ended up 20.22 points at 1,572.46.
‘A sharp rebound of the US market certainly helped lift the KOSPI today,’ Kim Joong-hyun, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corporation, said.
But he noted trading volume increased only slightly after it plunged to the year’s lowest level Thursday. No one was in a hurry to sell or buy before the release of the payrolls data later Friday and before the weekend, Kim said.
POSCO added 4.2 per cent to 523,000 won and Hyundai Steel gained 3.0 per cent to 78,300.
Daewoo Securities advanced 4.6 per cent to 19,250 won and Woori Investment and Securities climbed 4.7 per cent to 15,700.
Ssangyong Motors rose by the daily limit of 15 per cent to 3,205 won on hopes a local court will approve its restructuring plan later Friday.
TAIPEI: Up 0.61 per cent. The index rose 45.59 points to 7,463.05.
The market opened higher as investors were encouraged by a breach of the 10,000 point mark on Wall Street.
However, citing the day’s ‘thin turnover’, Concord Securities analyst Allen Lin said that ‘Wall Street’s strong showing failed to call too many investors back to the trading floor’.
China chips with close business ties with the mainland got boosted by optimism they would benefit from strong demand there.
Food maker Uni-President rose 1.96 per cent to 38.95 dollars.
Microchip designer MediaTek closed down 0.52 per cent at 477.50 and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co closed up 0.50 per cent at 60.00.
SINGAPORE: Up 1.10 per cent. The Straits Times Index rose 28.86 points to 2,658.21.
DBS rose 40 cents to 13.38 and United Overseas Bank up 34 cents to 17.76.
Capitaland edged up five cents to 4.09 and City Developments rose 17 cents to 10.02.
Singapore Airlines was up 18 cents to 13.98 and Singapore Telecommunications gained five cents to 2.94.
BANGKOK: Up 2.45 per cent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand rose 16.72 points to 698.63.
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.54 per cent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 6.80 points to 1,260.76.
JAKARTA: Up 1.18 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 27.89 points to 2,395.10.
The index has gained 77 per cent since the start of 2009.
Cigarette maker Gudang Garam jumped 7.1 per cent to 17,250 rupiah, while Bank Rakyat Indonesia climbed 3.5 per cent to 7,450.
Car distributor Astra International gained 1.9 per cent to 30,350 rupiah.
MANILA: Down 0.44 per cent. The index fell 13.04 points to 2,931.47.
First Holdings dropped 3.45 per cent to 56 pesos while Metro Pacific slipped 4.76 per cent to three pesos. Meralco fell 12.22 per cent to 194 pesos.
Philex Mining Corp. rose 1.89 per cent to 13.50 pesos.
WELLINGTON: Up 0.50 per cent. The NZX-50 closed up 15.66 points at 3,160.16.
Telecom rose four cents to 2.52 dollars after reporting first quarter net profit rose 9.4 per cent to 163 million dollars.
Fletcher Building rose nine cents to 7.95 dollars and Contact Energy gained three cents to 6.02.
Pay television firm Sky TV gained eight cents to 4.88 dollars.
MUMBAI: Up 0.59 per cent. The 30-share Sensex rose 94.38 points to 16,158.28.
European stocks mixed
ahead of US job figures
Agence France-Presse . London
Europe’s main stock markets diverged slightly on Friday ahead of the release of crucial US employment figures and as traders assessed more earnings reports.
London’s FTSE 100 index of top shares climbed 0.18 per cent to 5,134.73 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 edged up 0.05 per cent to 5,483.56 points while in Paris the CAC 40 dipped 0.12 per cent to 3,704.44.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares was flat at 2,793.00 points.
‘The main event for global markets today is the latest US unemployment release,’ said IG Index chief market strategist David Jones.
‘Considering the strength seen by stock markets so far this week, it does look like the unemployment number would have to be much worse than expected to manage to put a dent in this current positive mood.’
Wall Street stocks soared Thursday in the strongest rally since July, after better-than-expected US economic data on the weak labour market and positive company news, traders said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 2.08 per cent to close at 10,005.96 points, breaching the psychological 10,000 barrier for the first time in two weeks.
The rally came after positive economic data lifted sentiment ahead of Friday’s anxiously awaited release of October data on the job market and unemployment.
Labor Department data released Thursday showed initial claims for US unemployment insurance benefits fell more than expected last week.
Traders were bracing for the October labour market, with most analysts expecting the unemployment rate to 9.9 per cent from a 26-year high of 9.8 per cent in September.
Ahead of Friday’s data, investors digested more earnings news. Although Royal Bank of Scotland and British Airways both posted heavy losses, share prices in both companies rose strongly heading into the weekend.
‘Market reaction has been strongly positive so far, with both up by more than six per cent on the day although of course the share prices of both have suffered heavily over recent weeks,’ said analyst Jones.
Royal Bank of Scotland reported a net quarterly loss of 1.8 billion pounds (2.0 billion euros, 3.0 billion dollars) and said it expected a slow recovery, despite massive state support.
British Airways said its net loss more than quadrupled during its first half, forcing the carrier to slash an extra 1,200 jobs in an ‘essential’ cost reduction programme.
BA posted a loss after tax of 217 million pounds during the six months to September 30 compared with a loss of 49 million pounds during the equivalent period in 2008.
Meanwhile the rally on Wall Street overnight helped Asian markets rebound on Friday.
Hong Kong added 1.63 per cent, Tokyo 0.74 per cent and Sydney 1.91 per cent, while Shanghai rose for the sixth day in a row.
Dollar falls before US jobs data
Agence France-Presse . London
The dollar fell against the euro and yen on Friday as market players grew cautious ahead of US jobs data and as ministers began gathering for a Group of 20 finance meeting, traders said.
In London morning trade, the euro rose to 1.4897 dollars from 1.4868 dollars late in New York on Thursday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar fell to 90.50 yen from 90.72 yen late on Thursday.
‘There is still an appetite for risk-taking in the market but it’s difficult for players to take aggressive positions before the jobs data and the G20,’ said Yuji Saito, head of foreign exchange at Societe Generale in Tokyo.
The euro is seen as a riskier bet compared with the dollar.
US non-farm payrolls data due out Friday are expected to show the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 per cent in October, from a 26-year high of 9.8 per cent in September.
‘Investors are wary of pushing riskier currencies too far ahead of (the) key US payrolls report with the unemployment rate expected to rise to almost 10 per cent,’ said NAB Capital analyst John Kyriakopoulos.
Finance chiefs from 20 rich and emerging economies were meanwhile holding their third get-together of 2009 over two days in Scotland from Friday.
With countries such as the US, Japan, Germany and France emerging from recession after last year’s global financial crisis, the G20’s focus has switched to how to secure a sustainable economic recovery.
It is unlikely that currencies will figure high on the agenda but the gathering is still ‘a risk factor’ for the market, said Saito.
Most of the week’s attention has been on international monetary policy, with interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England.
The BoE on Thursday decided to inject billions of extra pounds into the British economy and held interest rates at a record low 0.5 per cent as it looks to help Britain out of its longest recession on record.
The European Central Bank (ECB) also left leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.0 per cent.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to keep rock-bottom US interest rates for ‘an extended period’ and kept trillion-dollar stimulus measures in place to support a fragile recovery from recession.
In London on Friday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4897 dollars against 1.4868 dollars late on Thursday, at 134.83 yen (134.88), 0.8968 pounds (0.8965) and 1.5122 Swiss francs (1.5112).
The dollar stood at 90.50 yen (90.72) and 1.0150 Swiss francs (1.0162).
The pound was at 1.6612 dollars (1.6577).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold grew to 1,094.60 dollars an ounce from 1,089 dollars an ounce late on Thursday.
Oil prices rise above
80 dollars
Agence France-Presse . London
Oil prices climbed above 80 dollars a barrel on Friday as traders looked ahead to employment data in the United States, the world’s biggest energy consuming nation.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December rose 36 cents to 80.01 dollars a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery gained 45 cents to 78.44 dollars in London trade.
Non-farm payrolls data due out Friday are expected to show the US unemployment rate rose to 9.9 per cent in October, from a 26-year high of 9.8 per cent in September.
Ahead of the data analysts warned about slack energy demand as the global economy struggles to recover from the financial crisis.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held rock-bottom interest rates for ‘an extended period’ and kept trillion-dollar stimulus measures in place to support a fragile recovery from recession.
As expected, the Fed held its key federal funds rate at a historic low of zero to 0.25 per cent, where it has been since last December to help pull the economy out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
Analysts said data from the US Department of Energy (DoE) showing an unexpected drop in crude stockpiles last week was not enough to buoy the oil market.
‘Once again, the demand side of the... numbers (published Wednesday) was extremely weak,’ said Edward Meir, a senior commodity analyst with MF Global.
Prestige Economics analyst Jason Schenker said it was ‘a surprising report... but doesn’t fundamentally change the picture of very large crude inventories and near historically high distillates inventories.’
He said the weekly data had caught a number of traders ‘off guard,’ sending prices briefly above 81 dollars.
The DoE on Wednesday announced that American crude reserves sank by four million barrels in the week ending October 30. That confounded market expectations for a gain of 1.4 million barrels.
German retailer Escada
sold to Megha Mittal
Agence France-Presse . Frankfurt
Several hundred workers at the clothing group Escada hailed new boss Megha Mittal on Friday as she paid a visit to its headquarters in Munich, southern Germany, a labour representative told AFP.
‘We cried for joy,’ Ursula Dreyer said. ‘She is our dream partner, not just that of the management.’
Mittal, 33, dropped by Escada a day after an insolvency administrator signed a contract selling the firm to Mittal Family Trusts, which represents the interests of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter-in-law.
She was accompanied by her husband Aditya Mittal, financial director of the steel giant ArcelorMittal and Lakshmi’s sole son.
Dreyer quoted Megha Mittal as saying that getting involved with a fashion group was the ‘dream of a lifetime,’ and promising to hook Escada up with Indian suppliers she was already in contact with.
Megha Mittal currently works at a London-based investment bank, but Escada’s main operations are to remain in Munich.
Talks with unions on potential job cuts are to begin next week, said Dreyer, who is head of the company’s works council.
After several years of falling sales, Escada filed for insolvency in mid August and began looking for an investor, with more than a dozen suitors expressing interest.
Escada chief executive Bruno Saelzer is to retain his post and the Mittal family has approved a rescue strategy established by the CEO last year that foresees the development of a medium-priced line of clothing.
Saelzer implemented a similar strategy at his former fashion company, Hugo Boss.
No financial details of the sale have been disclosed, though German press reports have estimated the sale price at around 30 million euros (45 million dollars), to which might be added another 100 million in necessary investments over the next two years.
Euro advance on dollar fades
Agence France-Presse . London
The euro moved higher against the dollar Thursday after positive comments from the European Central Bank on eurozone prospects but later gave back gains as anxious investors awaited a key US employment report on Friday.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.4863 dollars, down from 1.4865 late Wednesday in New York.
The dollar was meanwhile trading at 90.57 yen against 90.75 on Wednesday.
The euro in mid-afternoon had risen to 1.4876 dollars after ECB head Jean-Claude Trichet, speaking after the bank left its record low benchmark interest rate unchanged, said: ‘The latest information continues to signal an improvement in economic activity in the second half of this year.’
But later in the trading day investors turned their attention to a keenly awaited US government report Friday on the US unemployment rate in October.
Concern that the rate might show a sharper-than-expected rise, thereby calling into question the strength of the US recovery, prompted investors to seek the safe-haven dollar at the expense of the euro, seen as a riskier bet.
Analysts at Capital Economics predict that Friday’s report will show that the US economy shed 180,000 jobs in October, with the unemployment rate rising from 9.8 per cent in September to 10 per cent—a level last seen in 1983.
‘With payrolls still falling sharply some four months after the recession most likely ended, the United States may not just be enduring a job-less recovery but a ‘job-loss’ recovery,’ they said in a note.
Economists and the Obama administration have warned that unemployment is likely to continue to rise even as the economy emerges from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
US-China trade spat escalates
Agence France-Presse . Beijing
China slammed new US tariffs on Chinese steel goods Friday and launched its own probe into US car imports as a tit-for-tat trade tussle escalated just a week before a visit by US President Barack Obama.
China’s commerce ministry harshly criticised as ‘protectionist’ a US announcement Thursday that Washington had imposed anti-dumping tariffs of up to 99 per cent on imports of some Chinese steel products used in the oil industry.
China ‘firmly opposes the abuse of protectionism and will take measures to seriously protect the interests of the domestic industry,’ the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun later told reporters China was ‘gravely concerned’ by the move, adding that the import value of the affected products, known as oil country tubular goods, was 3.2 billion dollars in 2008.
The action is ‘the biggest so far’ taken against China by another country, Yi said, adding: ‘So you can see that this is a really big case.’
Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in another market at less than normal value.
Simmering trade tensions between Washington and Beijing boiled over in September when the Obama administration announced it would slap duties on Chinese-made tyres to protect local US producers.
Since then, the world’s number one and three economies have traded a series of accusations of unfair trade practices.
On Friday, China said it had launched a probe into alleged dumping and unfair subsidies involving imported US ‘sedans and off-road vehicles with an engine size of 2.0 litres or above.’
China said in September that its domestic auto industry had requested that the ministry look into the matter, but the government had not given specifics about the products in question until now.
China ‘will make an impartial and reasonable ruling on this case based on the law and facts to maintain fair trade,’ a commerce ministry statement said.
Obama — who will be in China from November 15-18 — said in July that the US-China relationship would ‘shape the 21st century’.
In a press briefing in Beijing on Friday on Obama’s visit, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei was upbeat about US-China ties, saying the trip would mark a ‘new historical starting point’ in relations.
But the US action — and China’s sharp response — threatened to poison the atmosphere ahead of Obama’s arrival.
The two sides, the world’s two biggest sources of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, are already at odds over how to apportion responsibility for reducing such emissions.
The United States is pressing China for aggressive action to limit greenhouse gas emissions, while Beijing insists that developed countries, such as the United States, should take the lead.
The United Steelworkers union in the United States hailed the new US tariffs as ‘an overdue message for thousands of American laid off workers that trade laws are being enforced.’
USW president Leo Gerard said the anti-dumping measures were ‘promising’ for US producers reeling after nearly half of the industry’s 6,000-strong workforce had lost their jobs.
‘China’s government and exporters are being told we are fed up with their cheating on our fair trade laws and penalties for these transgressions are long overdue,’ he said.
But China’s commerce ministry said the US duties were a bid to protect US makers of steel goods during the global downturn.
‘The ultimate reason for problems in the relevant US industry was the slump in consumption due to the financial crisis,’ it said.
World unemployment up
Associated Press . Paris
Despite signs of an economic revival gathering pace around the globe, the millions of people laid off during the worst recession in 70 years are unlikely to see relief any time soon as joblessness is still climbing in many of the world’s largest economies.
Unemployment data typically lags other indicators of economic health as companies hold off adding staff in the early stages of a rebound. The upturns recorded recently in the United States, France, Germany and elsewhere have been largely driven by temporary factors such as industry restocking following spending freezes, as well as the billions spent on stimulus programs.
This week the European Union forecast unemployment in the eurozone will rise to 10.7 percent in 2010 from 9.5 percent this year.
Unemployment rates in the 30 wealthy countries that belong to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development range from a low of 3.5 percent in the Netherlands to 18.3 percent in Spain, according to September figures.
And eurozone unemployment rose to a 10-year high of 9.7 percent in September.
In the developing world, the downturn has also taken its toll. Unemployment in Brazil appears now to be stabilising, but in Mexico, after hitting a 13-year high in August, unemployment has continued to rise, reaching 6.4 percent in September.
In the United States, economists expect the unemployment rate will tick up to 9.9 percent when October’s figure is reported Friday. The jobless rate hit a 26-year high of 9.8 percent in September.
Here is a look at unemployment rates around the world:
GERMANY — German unemployment fell for a second month in October, but the effects of the financial crisis lingered and it is still too early to expect a turnaround in the economy, the country’s labor ministry said. The unadjusted jobless rate in Europe’s biggest economy was 7.7 percent, down from 8 percent the previous month and below the 8.3 percent in August, the Federal Labor Agency said. The dip in unemployment comes nearly two weeks after the German government raised its growth forecast and predicted that Europe’s biggest economy will expand by 1.2 percent in 2010, up from an earlier prediction of 0.5 percent.
FRANCE — The increase in French jobless lines has been somewhat tempered by government incentives such as exempting payroll taxes for some workers. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September from 7.8 percent in 2008, according to the OECD. It is expected to hit 10 percent by the end of the year.
BRITAIN — Britain’s Office for National Statistics says unemployment in the United Kingdom was 7.9 percent in the three months to August. The rate held although the number of people out of work was 88,000 higher than in the previous three months, the report said. The number of jobless looks on course to pass the three million mark next year as the impact of the recession translates to rising dole queues.
JAPAN — Japan’s unemployment rate fell for the second straight month in September as companies gained more confidence in the stimulus-fueled global recovery but prices continued to tumble, underscoring weak demand at home. The jobless rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 5.3 percent in September, down from 5.5 percent the previous month and a record high of 5.7 percent in July, the government said Friday. The figures suggest job losses in the world’s second-biggest economy are easing as companies gain more confidence that global demand for Japan’s cars, electronics and other mainstay exports is picking up. Japan’s factory output posted its seventh consecutive rise in September.
CHINA — The official urban unemployment rate was 4.3 percent for the three months ended Sept. 30, unchanged from the previous three month period. But the actual level could be more than double that because the government system ignores millions of migrant workers and employees who are furloughed by state companies but not recorded as laid off. As of Sept. 30 there were 9.15 million registered unemployed people in an urban workforce of 210 million. As many as 30 million migrants are believed to have lost jobs in export-oriented factories in late 2008, government officials said.
APEC seeks to slash
emissions by 2050
Agence-France-Presse . Singapore
Asia-Pacific powers including the United States, China and Russia are expected to call next week for sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a crunch climate meeting in Copenhagen.
US President Barack Obama and 20 other regional leaders will also say it is too early to wean their economies off stimulus spending, according to a draft summit communique obtained by AFP on Friday.
At their November 14-15 summit in Singapore, the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will call man-made climate change ‘one of the biggest challenges facing the world’, the draft declaration said.
‘We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be reduced to 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050, recognising that the time frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries,’ it said.
The leaders, also including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, will stress their commitment to reaching a ‘good agreement in Copenhagen’, it added.
The December gathering in the Danish capital will try to thrash out a new treaty to tackle global warming, but preparatory talks have become deadlocked and officials warn that the process could drag on into next year.
Obama, who will attend APEC as part of his first presidential tour of Asia, faces a recalcitrant US Congress and his administration wants more action from developing nations such as China.
The developing powers in turn are demanding more money from the industrialized world to combat what they say is a Western-produced problem.
The draft APEC text said global action to cut emissions should ‘be accompanied by measures to support the most vulnerable countries to assist them to adapt to the adverse impact of climate change’.
On Thursday, US Senate Democrats pushed a climate change bill through a key committee, shrugging off a Republican boycott. But it could still be a long way before it can clear the full Congress.
The Senate bill calls for a 20-per cent emissions cut by 2020, more ambitious than a House of Representatives version passed in June calling for a 17 per cent reduction from 2005 levels.
In September, Hu told the United Nations that China would reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by a ‘notable margin’ by 2020, but did not provide a figure.
Carbon intensity is the measure of greenhouse gas that is emitted for each dollar of gross domestic product (GDP).
APEC executive director Michael Tay said the discussions on climate change were part of efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth.
‘One way is to look at energy efficiency, the sharing of best practices, the sharing of technology,’ he told AFP. ‘We are also looking at how to give better access for trade in environmental goods and services.’
British Airways to cut more jobs
Agence Freance-Presse . London
British Airways revealed a quadrupling of net losses in its first half on Friday, and axed an extra 1,200 jobs in an ‘essential’ cost-reduction programme.
BA posted a loss after tax of 217 million pounds (242 million euros, 361 million dollars) during the six months to September 30 compared with a loss of 49 million pounds during the equivalent period in 2008.
‘Aviation remains in recession,’ BA chief executive Willie Walsh said in comments accompanying news of the company’s deep loss.
‘With (BA) revenue likely to be one billion pounds lower this year, we can’t stand still and further cost reduction is essential,’ he warned.
British Airways said it would cut an extra 1,200 jobs, taking the total planned reduction to 4,900 by 2010.
Most of the new losses would be outside Britain and follows a high response from staff agreeing to work part-time or take voluntary redundancy to help secure the airline’s future.
Meeting on renewable energy
held in capital
Business Desk
Infrastructure Development Company Limited and Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday jointly organised a meeting on renewable energy prospects in Bangladesh at the auditorium of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
Attended by professionals, academicians, multilateral agencies, practitioners and other stakeholders in the renewable able energy sector, the meeting included presentations, discussions and an interactive session.
Inaugurating the meeting, the CBCCI president, Masud Rahman, proposed that Bangladesh reduces her dependence on imported oil and explores the feasibility for harnessing alternative sources of energy to ensure energy security.
Islam Sharif, executive director and chief executive officer of IDCOL, presented the keynote speech.
Among others, Robert McDougall, high commissioner of Canada, was present on the occasion.
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